Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[0sacred]

taking your sweet time huh?

 

[Yosharian]

90h in, still in Act 1, going through the Mountain Pass. I like the game so far, don't get all the hate it gets on the Codex. Sure, the amount of women who try to boss you around is a little bit too high for my taste, but fortunately you can kill or punish most of them appropriately. Three things I appreciate the most about this game:
- all the reactivity & attention to detail, impressive
- hand-crafted encounter design, ZERO trash mob fights so far, almost unheard of. Owlcat or Sawyer could learn something here
- combat is actually fun

For some reason I feel that most of the 'good' parts are already over, but let's see how it goes.

You are 90H into the game and you're still in Act 1?

 

[Asymptotics]

90h in, still in Act 1, going through the Mountain Pass. I like the game so far, don't get all the hate it gets on the Codex. Sure, the amount of women who try to boss you around is a little bit too high for my taste, but fortunately you can kill or punish most of them appropriately. Three things I appreciate the most about this game:
- all the reactivity & attention to detail, impressive
- hand-crafted encounter design, ZERO trash mob fights so far, almost unheard of. Owlcat or Sawyer could learn something here
- combat is actually fun

For some reason I feel that most of the 'good' parts are already over, but let's see how it goes.

You are 90H into the game and you're still in Act 1?

Dude must've read every single piece of text and exhausted every single dialogue option in act 1. And then spent 50 hours afk.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

90h seems wild, but to be fair Act 1 alone seems bigger than entire games are sometimes.

 

[cruel]

Yeah, I definitely take my time with bigger games. I like to make a hard save every few hours and play with different ways the game allows you to progress. Stuff like:
- how far can you go if you make goblin camp hostile early
- is it doable to beat Ethel or Spider on L3
- steal or deliver Zhentarim package
- Duergar & Nere fight, how it plays out if you don't align with Brithvar and need to fight all at once
- betraying the Tieflings and siding with Minthara

I think it's actually more efficient in the long run than re-doing the whole game from scratch - assuming someone wants to actually see & experience those different outcomes.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

It already took 6 years to develop BG3 and 1 year of patches to get rid of all the bugs too, need to stay realistic and can't expect the scope of act 1 for every act or you'd be waiting 10+ years for a game...

But maybe now that Larian expanded the studio by hundreds they're able to deliver consistent depth and quality...

Larian should have realized their initial vision of BG3 was too expansive for them to complete properly in an acceptable period, and therefore halted work on everything from arrival in Baldur's Gate onward, instead polishing the content that forms Acts I & II of the existing game, especially Act II which is relatively lackluster. This would still have resulted in a 50-hour game, or even longer if they had established more content in the Act II Shadowlands to match the lengthier Act I, and the game could have been released much earlier than August 2023. Following the release and high sales of BG3, Larian could then have developed BG4 with a fully-fleshed out city of Baldur's Gate and related content (more planar content or whatever via teleportation), higher levels rather than hitting the level limit long before the end of the game, correct scripting rather than bugs, and so forth, releasing perhaps in 2025 and again reaching high sales.

 

[BlackAdderBG]

- hand-crafted encounter design, ZERO trash mob fights so far, almost unheard of. Owlcat or Sawyer could learn something here

That's the function of the turn based combat and to lesser extend the low level nature of the game, nothing to do with "hand crafted" encounters. Never understood that complaint at the first place, if combat is the best part of a game you would want to engage with it as often as possible as it's what brings enjoyment from the gameplay. Also unless you have randomly generated systems all of them are "hand crafted". The problem often is that "hand crafted" also means puzzle-like and that can be real problem as it's hard to design a lot of encounters and keep the quality of the encounter and not force same strategies every time even if the level of interactivity is as high as Larian games. Just look at the spider encounter people are talking about the last couple of pages, ALL of them have more or less the same resolution that was predesigned by the developers and that quickly becomes spot the gimmick of the encounter. A game with a lot of trash encounters is not inherently good or bad the same is true for the opposite. Are Wizardry or M&M bad RPGs if 99% of the time you spend in said "trash combat"?

 

[Yosharian]

Yeah, I definitely take my time with bigger games. I like to make a hard save every few hours and play with different ways the game allows you to progress. Stuff like:
- how far can you go if you make goblin camp hostile early
- is it doable to beat Ethel or Spider on L3
- steal or deliver Zhentarim package
- Duergar & Nere fight, how it plays out if you don't align with Brithvar and need to fight all at once
- betraying the Tieflings and siding with Minthara

I think it's actually more efficient in the long run than re-doing the whole game from scratch - assuming someone wants to actually see & experience those different outcomes.

Oh ok that explains a lot.

You're mad.

 

[cvv]

Sitrep about 30 hours in, I've warmed to the game a lot. I still think the DnD combat isn't as much fun as Larian's own invention in DOS 1 and 2 but it's p. good in its own right, especially after you hit lvl 5 and you get the double melee attack and better AoEs for casters.

Game is fucking huge too. I was about done with Act 1, I was ready to transition through the mountains but then I remembered I haven't checked the marshland and that turned out to be a p. great adventure with the hag and then I thought I was finally ready but then I stumbled through one of the tree doors and holy jumping Jesus where the fuck am I now? Turns out there's an entire massive underworld with its own slew of quests and items and encounters.... In that moment my rating went up from 8/10 to 9/10.

I was p. sceptical going into this but yeah, even my jaded ass has to acknowledge game is really fucking good. And while I had a bit more fun with Larian's own combat, the writing in BG3 is WAY better than in the derpy Original Sins. I'm already looking forward finishing my normal run, watching a few build and tips video and trying my luck with the Honor mode.

 

[Hydro]

I was ready to transition

Queer horniness claims yet another victim

In that moment my rating went up from 8/10 to 9/10.

Curious how much it will plummet in the act 3

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Turns out there's an entire massive underworld with its own slew of quests and items and encounters....

You've missed three other ways of reaching the Underdark:

Spoiler

1. From the goblins' base
2. From the Zhentarim base
3. Falling from the lair of the giant spiders (requires featherfall)

 

[Old Hans]

Curious how much it will plummet in the act 3

oh man the opening section of act 3 is the biggest boner killer in rpg history

 

[Habichtswalder]

Might not be a common opinion: But for me Act 3 isn't the weak part of the game. It is actually my favorite part.
I see its flaws, there were far more bugs in comparison to Act 1 or 2 and the interconnectedness of the quest created some unpredictable events that probably weren't planned by Larian...but still: Slowly advancing through the city and uncovering its secrets felt great. This was such an ambitious chapter and they were mostly successful with its execution.

My least favorite act was actually Act 2. Atmosphere was interesting in the first hours but the Act is a one-trick-pony and as such carries on for too long (but it is still decent).

 

[Crichton]

I also thought act 2 was the weak link; 1 and 3 both felt a lot less linear and more open to player action to me. In 2, I felt like I was just along for the ride on Shadowheart's quest.

 

[cvv]

In that moment my rating went up from 8/10 to 9/10.

Curious how much it will plummet in the act 3

Just like DOS 1 and 2 then.

Those 3rd acts seem to be Larian's weakness, they're always linear, confusing and buggy. We'll see...

 

[Haplo]

Might not be a common opinion: But for me Act 3 isn't the weak part of the game. It is actually my favorite part.
I see its flaws, there were far more bugs in comparison to Act 1 or 2 and the interconnectedness of the quest created some unpredictable events that probably weren't planned by Larian...but still: Slowly advancing through the city and uncovering its secrets felt great. This was such an ambitious chapter and they were mostly successful with its execution.

My least favorite act was actually Act 2. Atmosphere was interesting in the first hours but the Act is a one-trick-pony and as such carries on for too long (but it is still decent).

Well, I liked Act 1 much better (duh!). But still, was very impressed by the grandiose scope of Act 3. Sure, lack of a noble quarter was quite a dissapointment (pretty clearly some locations and events should have happened there), but even so, the city is huge, with lots to do and explore. A bit overwhelming even.
Of course, I am a bit dissapointed with the direction some quests and events took, but still, there's a lot of an impressive game there.

 

[Haplo]

In that moment my rating went up from 8/10 to 9/10.

Curious how much it will plummet in the act 3

Just like DOS 1 and 2 then.

Those 3rd acts seem to be Larian's weakness, they're always linear, confusing and buggy. We'll see...

Well, the patchwork plot falls apart, with some downright ugly revelations, but at least its definately not linear this time

 

[Hydro]

Might not be a common opinion: But for me Act 3 isn't the weak part of the game. It is actually my favorite part.
I see its flaws, there were far more bugs in comparison to Act 1 or 2 and the interconnectedness of the quest created some unpredictable events that probably weren't planned by Larian...but still: Slowly advancing through the city and uncovering its secrets felt great. This was such an ambitious chapter and they were mostly successful with its execution.

My least favorite act was actually Act 2. Atmosphere was interesting in the first hours but the Act is a one-trick-pony and as such carries on for too long (but it is still decent).

Well, I liked Act 1 much better (duh!). But still, was very impressed by the grandiose scope of Act 3. Sure, lack of a noble quarter was quite a dissapointment (pretty clearly some locations and event should have happened there), but even so, the city is huge, with lots to do and explore. A bit overwhelming even.
Of course, I am a bit dissapointed with the direction some quests and events took, but still, there's a lot of an impressive game there.

Like… how on earth?
Act 3 is quite literally a pale shadow of the act 1. They even brought back Auntie with no clear justification. Oh, she’s alive! And she won’t even address this! Like wtf? First I found the witch hideout in the city, I thought it may be the other witch that was mentioned in the letters found in the act 1 (which quite literally mentions the other witches in the city), but nah. It’s so cheap and half-assed I can’t even take it seriously. Don’t make me even start about the rest of the villain three — a fucking joke. It’s like at the time of the act 3 they had become creatively bankrupt resorting to the old characters but unable to fill them with any substance, just like Bethesda with the Vault Boy. Fucking disgrace. For this alone Larian should be perceived as a decline enabler.

 

[Swen]

Sitrep about 30 hours in, I've warmed to the game a lot. I still think the DnD combat isn't as much fun as Larian's own invention in DOS 1 and 2 but it's p. good in its own right, especially after you hit lvl 5 and you get the double melee attack and better AoEs for casters.

Game is fucking huge too. I was about done with Act 1, I was ready to transition through the mountains but then I remembered I haven't checked the marshland and that turned out to be a p. great adventure with the hag and then I thought I was finally ready but then I stumbled through one of the tree doors and holy jumping Jesus where the fuck am I now? Turns out there's an entire massive underworld with its own slew of quests and items and encounters.... In that moment my rating went up from 8/10 to 9/10.

I was p. sceptical going into this but yeah, even my jaded ass has to acknowledge game is really fucking good. And while I had a bit more fun with Larian's own combat, the writing in BG3 is WAY better than in the derpy Original Sins. I'm already looking forward finishing my normal run, watching a few build and tips video and trying my luck with the Honor mode.

It's a great game, even my biggest haters will have to acknowledge that fact sooner or later.

Hydro will be the next hater to turn, you will see...

 

[cvv]

It's a great game, even my biggest haters will have to acknowledge that fact sooner or later.

Ok Swen but next time you wanna shill for your own game at least change your fucking avatar name FFS.

Fucking Belgians man.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

It's a great game, even my biggest haters will have to acknowledge that fact sooner or later.

Ok Swen but next time you wanna shill for your own game at least change your fucking avatar name FFS.

Fucking Belgians man.

It's not even Swen Vincke, it's a random Belgian trying to save the honour of his country.

 

[jackofshadows]

Act 3 is a mess plot/cut content wise but idk why anyone cares about that so much. Quest design and encounter wise which imo are much more important are alright but the problem is - level cap. And the gear is also should be top tier by then so why even bother exploring it all? Unless one is a completionist autizmo in which case - good fucking luck.

But yeah the opening section suck, I agree.

Also it's absurd that say random mobs in sewers have higher level than anything in act1/act2, they messed up the whole act structure, alas.

 

[Haplo]

Well, there IS some very good gear in Act 3, that trumps the stuff previously available.
Not that its necessary to succeed.

 

[Swen]

Well, there IS some very good gear in Act 3, that trumps the stuff previously available.
Not that its necessary to succeed.

Yeah the great gear in act 3 makes up for not being able to level beyond lvl 12.

 

[cvv]

but the problem is - level cap

So there is no point grinding exp and killing everything in sight? I'm now lvl 6 and 1/2, still in Act 1. I was thinking combing throught the map again and killing absolutely everything to hit lvl 7.